Good looking Evo project from Chopperdaves Blog... maybe his project? LIGHT, SKINNY, FAST, HANDLES GOOD, STOPS GOOD, GROUND CLREARANCE, mid pegs, high pipes... if only it had a magneto and no battery! Looking good Dave!
I don’t know about you, but when I daydream of a nicely built and functioning attack chopper, I think about things like; WAY too much power, snarling nasty screaming burnouts, top gear wide open, high speed blasts, tons of sideways action, sliding and skidding to stops, 2nd gear one handed jockey shift wheelies, pelting cars and other riders with rocks, gravel, and chunks of asphalt, insane full throttle lanesplitting , wheelies at every stop light, drifting corners on gravel and dirt (and pavement!), unbelievably loud pipes spitting flames, jumping curbs and scattering pedestrians off of sidewalks, arm stretching acceleration , jumping intersections and hilltops, and scaring most stock motorcycle riders half to death. I think about running away from cops, from other bikes, about chasing people down and doing battle in traffic , always on that ragged edge of control, always going way too fast for the situation, always loud, always dangerous, always operating beyond normal standards, the motors always on the brink of exploding, transmissions one bad shift away from catastrophic failure, violent, scary, destructive power, barely contained and harnessed. So, it should come as no surprise to you that when I think about cars… I think about the same sorts of things. And of course that means only one KIND of cars will do for that sort of daydreaming: RALLYCARS. No other cars can do it all and take the driver right to the edge of absolute molecular obliteration like full blown, in your face, screaming, flying, spitting, earth chewing, flame throwing, raw, unbridled, demonic, rallycars. You think your car is hot? You think you can drive? Think you have experienced danger and a few scary near death saves? When was the last time you drove 100 mph down narrow gravel, dirt, or snowy roads lined with trees with jumps and hairpin curves in them? How about tearing through the nastiest mountain roads you have ever seen, going from one pass covered in ice, to another in broken up pavement with no guard rails, to one with slick mud across the pavement from the melting snow up above? Oh, sure smarty-pants… well for the rest of us… that’s why we love Rally racing.
But, modern rally racing isn’t like it used to be… when I said “unbridled” I meant it…but when was the last time Rallycars were truly “unbridled”? 1986. The year that they banned the infamous Group B rallycars. You see Group B cars were unlimited. No rules whatsoever. Any amount of horsepower you could wring out of that engine packaged in the lightest possible package you could manage to sell your soul to Satan to achieve. How you did it didn’t matter. Superchargers? Sure. Turbos? Yep. A supercharger AND two turbos? Absolutely. Nothing was impossible in those days.
To call the Group B cars monsters was like calling Michael Jackson slightly odd. And that’s why we don’t have them anymore. Group B was banned after too many deaths occurred. It was deemed too dangerous to continue.
But not before they changed the world and my twisted little mind forever.
Now keep in mind that until Audi used patents by a certain Scotsman named Ferguson who invented the 4WD transfer case, and then started racing it’s Sport Quattro in Group B races in 1982 , All of the Group B cars were all rear wheel drives!
And that brings me to what I actually wanted to talk about: the greatest rallycar of all time… the Audi Sport Quattro S1 and S2. When Audi started using the wheel drive everyone in the automotive world laughed at them. They said it couldn’t work… it was too heavy and complicated and what could possibly be the advantage? But they only laughed long enough to lose EVERYTHING to the Quattro’s. Audi immediately proved how devastatingly effective the all wheel drive concept could be. The first rally cars made somewhere around 400 horse from a turboed 2.1 liter straight 5 cylinder engine. But that number quickly climbed. 500 horse was easily achieved and used regularly on the stages. In these days before anti-lag technology Audi engineers had to do anything they could to help keep that turbo spooled up for their drivers having to shoot out of those slow corners… so they stuck a fuel injector into exhaust that dumped raw fuel into the red hot exhaust during shifts… which immediately ignited and keep the turbo spinning up… which also caused the 6 foot flame throwing hijinks that you see on the videos of the old rallys. The Quattro could pour on speed on any surface, no matter how slippery or damaged. It clawed, it flew, it slid, it spit, it made ears bleed, it made eyes water, it destroyed records and obliterated opponents. It was the most incredible thing to ever happen to off road racing... and it was unstoppable. Audi decided to go farther... they were still hungry for blood...in 1985 Audi took the Quattro and one of their drivers to Pikes Peak hillclimb. The driver was a French woman by the name of Michele Mouton. She is the only woman to win a round of the World Rally Championship. She trounced all the records and beat the pants off of Bobby Unser and all the other good ol boys that had ruled the mountain to that point and with that run she still holds the record for the fastest time up the mountain by a woman. Booby and the other men were overheard by Michele to be complaining to each other about being beaten by a woman in a German car on their mountain... to which she walked in an told them: "If you boys really had any balls at all, you'd race me DOWN that mountain."(Which she regularlly did on rally events all over the world.)
2 years later they went back with Walter Rohl driving a 600 horse Quattro and took another chunk out of the records.
No other car in the history of the world has excited me so much or made my blood boil like the Quattro. You can have your stock cars. You can have your NASCARS. You can have those F1 cars. You can keep your prissy Exotics. You can keep your mommys Subaru. You can even keep your sisters turbo Civic...
A little French woman was breaking records and destroying worlds in this sucker before Ken Block even had a pedal car. Little Kenny isn't fit to wash the windsheild for ONE of the Group B drivers.
So when I grow tired of looking at lame, fat, slow, chromed out bikes that are supposed to be sweet “choppers”… and I can’t find any good fast rigids on the web anymore… I simply fire up Youtube… and watch videos of the number one thing that has inspired my Attack Chopper philosophy… the Audi Sport Quattro S1. And I’m good for days.
Don’t get stuck in a rut guys… look outside the bike world for your inspiration… if it wasn’t for this car… this blog wouldn’t even exist.
Feels good to post a nice Knucklehead from the US once and awhile! LIGHT, SKINNY, FAST, HANDLES GOOD, GROUND CLEARANCE, mid pegs, magneto, no battery One point for the USA!
One point for the USA! Swiped off Max's 4Q blog: http://4qconditioning.blogspot.com/?zx=df53a72a5ac29865 LIGHT, SKINNY, FAST, HANDLES GOOD, needs some ground clearance and front brakes... but it's still got a lot going for it! mid pegs, high pipes, magneto, no battery
Very clean Ironhead... from the USA! Let me take this opportunity to say that I have been neglecting something that I should have been pushing from the start of the blog. One more performance aspect that I should have been mentioning.... low center of gravity. Heavy parts go as low as they can! (note the low battery!) LIGHT, SKINNY, FAST, HANDLES GOOD, GROUND CLEARANCE, mid pegs, low center of gravity, does dirt?
Nice Panhead from .... Japan.... sorry guys... one Triumph and one sweet Evo isn't evening up the score just yet! I know of several seekers of truth that are building away or collecting parts as we speak, but just a handfull of guys isn't going to win this! You all have to step up to the plate! LIGHT, SKINNY, FAST, GROUND CLEARANCE, HANDLES GOOD, mid pegs, high pipes, magneto, no battery
And they ride nice Triumph choppers! Spenser from the Haints blog(www.haints69.blogspot.com)sends these pics of his Triumph. He says that high pipes are on the way soon. Looking good man!
Now, how about the rest of you? Come on... I know you're holdin!
So this is Charlie Boorman posing with Jene of Jene choppers and some other people who I have no idea who they are... whatever. Look at that sweet Panhead right in front. There's the star in this photograph! LIGHT, SKINNY, FAST, GROUND CLEARANCE, HANDLES GOOD, dual 16"s, magneto, no battery, jockey shift
Another nice Shovel from the land of the rising sun. (you guys getting tired of getting your butts handed to you yet? Is anyone paying attention? Is this thing even on... hello? Hello? Ok, yes.. I see that hand... anybody OTHER than Jarhead Rob?) Come on guys! Send me some pics! If you have any good pics... start BUILDING something good to take pics of! LIGHT, SKINNY, FAST, GROUND CLEARANCE, HANDLES GOOD, STOPS GOOD, mid pegs, fork brace
My goals for this blog are simple: 1: Explain and champion the Attack chopper philosophy. 2: Encourage others to build Attack choppers. 3: Show examples of well built Attack choppers. 4: Show well built bikes that may not be Attack choppers to inspire Attack chopper builders to build better bikes. 5: Show sources of inspiration outside of the motorcycle sphere and chopper sphere of influence. 6: Exalt the heros of the faith.
Disclaimer
This is not a blog about bikes with long front ends. This is not a blog about slow bikes. This is not a blog about bikes with huge wide fat tires. This is not a blog about bikes that can’t turn. This is not a blog about show bikes.
Core Principles of the Attack Chopper philosophy:
LIGHT SKINNY FAST TOUGH GOOD HANDLING GOOD GROUND CLEARANCE GOOD BRAKES
My chopper manifesto
I do not accept the assumption that a rigid framed motorcycle cannot go fast, stop quickly, or handle well. I want my choppers to perform above the social accepted performance standard for rigid framed motorcycles; (that is to say: BAD) These are the standards I have set before myself to achieve with said choppers: My choppers must be able to Evade, Pursue, and allow me to survive. My choppers must be light. My choppers must be skinny and be able to navigate tight traffic with ease. My choppers must go fast, accelerate hard, stop well, handle good, and do so without fusing my vertabrae. My choppers must not scrape hard parts when leaning. My choppers are not bar hoppers. My choppers are not non-functioning scuplture. My choppers must function like a real, useable vehicle. My choppers must be a valid mode of transportation. My choppers must not be built for other peoples enjoyment or entertainment. My choppers must be built for me and my preferences and standards alone. My choppers must not be fragile. My choppers must be able to hop curbs, hit potholes, skid, wheelie, do burn outs and crash without breaking. My choppers must be able to be ridden on all sufaces (Pavement, dirt, gravel, snow, sand, mud)
Hero's and Inspiration
Flynch
Tom Rose
Joel Otto
Thorsten Durbahn
Burt Munroe
John Britten
My Brothers in the NFK
Basasra MC
The San Francisco 1%ers
Roland Sands
Indian Larry
Click here to read about how this all started
Why build and ride an Attack Chopper?
It's a lot of work and it isn't for everyone.. so why do it?
Click here to read Tom Rose's thoughts on why you should ride a kickstart ONLY bike.
You'll never look at an electric start bike the same again...
I got your adventure bike right here...
Rigids aren't show bikes. Use em.
Click here for a word about Jockey shifts, and spool hubs
Click here for a word about External inspiration:
Click here for a word about Crashproofing.
AKA: WWMMD? (What Would Mad Max Do?)
Click here for WWMMD part 2
Will you surive the apocalypse?
Click here for all the external inspiration you should ever need...
The nastiest car on the planet drips with inspiration for your Attack Chopper build..
Total Hero: Flynch
The guy who started this whole thing...
Total Hero's: My Brothers in the NFK
I interview MotoYan about the coolest bunch of guys in Tokyo